Advertisement
Most striking is the Brewers, like the A's, are a franchise that even after a successful playoff run last season is likely to see a major overhaul in its roster.
``Our roster will change,'' general manager Doug Melvin said Thursday afternoon as Macha, who was named manager Thursday, sat beside him in the press room of Miller Park. ``I have no idea what the roster will look like ... in January.''
The most noticeable change is likely to come at the top of the starting rotation because CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, the Brewers top two starters, are about to enter free agency. Melvin said he is preparing an offer for Sabathia's consideration before the open free agent hunt begins in two weeks.
Even if the Brewers lose those two pitchers, it would not be too different from what happened to Macha in Oakland after the 2003 season -- his first there -- when general manager Billy Beane traded away Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, the A's top guns in the rotation.
But for all those similarities and the others that come with being a successful small market team, Macha pointed out one big difference when he was introduced as the 17th manager in Brewers franchise history.
``One of the things I think I'm going to enjoy here is my relationship with Doug,'' Macha said in a not-so-thinly veiled swipe at Beane, whose reputation as an overseer of managers is legendary around the game.
``(Melvin's) been very honest with me, very straightforward. He's more of a delegator. He doesn't go out and do my job as a manager, and I'm going to be very grateful for that.
''Sometimes you get into situations that makes it difficult to do this job the way he sees fit because of extraneous pressure being put on you. I don't think that's going to happen here.``
In Macha, Melvin said he found a ''baseball lifer`` with a ''fresh viewpoint`` who has a successful managing track record. Macha received a two-year deal from the Brewers.
''I'm interested in getting a fresh look,`` Melvin said. ''Maybe there's something we're not seeing (with the talent on the team) or something that needs to be done.``
Macha, 58, made it clear that no matter how the roster develops this offseason, he is the one who will evaluate the content during spring training before getting outside input.
''I don't want to be influenced by any opinions,`` Macha said, noting he turned down the opportunity to see scouting reports, watch video and talk with the returning coaches about the current players. ''My job is to watch the club and start to evaluate on my own.``
Macha's first task will be to put together a coaching staff that, like the roster, is in its own version of upheaval.
Melvin said he spoke with Dale Sveum before the press conference and Sveum, who replaced manager Ned Yost for the final two weeks of the regular season and the playoffs, wants to return to the Brewers. But it is not clear if Sveum would return to his third-base coaching duties or stay in the dugout as the bench coach, where he assisted Yost during the 2007 season.
First base coach Ed Sedar and bullpen coach Bill Castro are set to return. However, pitching coach Mike Maddux is expected to receive an offer from Texas on Friday and may not return. Melvin said Maddux will tell him of his decision Friday.
The Brewers also need a new hitting coach to replace Jim Skaalen.
Macha spent the past two seasons as a broadcasting analyst for the Boston Red Sox cable network. When he was fired as the A's manager, reports surfaced that he did not communicate well with his players, something to which he and Melvin gave little credence.
''When you get dismissed, there has to be a reason ... and that reason sticks with you,`` Macha said of his two-year absence from the dugout.
''In four years at Oakland, I learned a tremendous amount of baseball. ... I can be nothing but a better manager now that I've come to Milwaukee.``
To see more of The Wisconsin State Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wisconsinstatejournal.com.
(c) 2008, The Wisconsin State Journal
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
|
More Brewers News: |
